2015-2016 Student Board Elected

Congratulations to the following individuals on their election to the MU Crew student board for the 2015-2016 academic year. The new board members will work with the current board these next few months to enable a smooth transition, before they assume their new roles this summer.

Fight Club Frenzy 2015

Marquette Crew kicked off the new year with a new winter schedule, participating in Milwaukee’s first Fight Club Frenzy indoor regatta on January 31st. The Milwaukee School of Engineering and the Milwaukee Rowing Club Juniors also participated, presenting an exciting competition for our squads.

The women’s teams especially rose the challenge, capturing medals in each event. Novice Lightweights Molly Merrion and Bridget Moffett took 1st and 2nd respectively, and Novice Open Kaitlin Howard and Aisling Hegarty won 1st and 3rd.Varsity Lightweight Emily Riesigraf took 2nd in her race while Varsity Openweight Sarah Reis placed 2nd with an overall time of 7:21.3. The men's team had a few notable finishes as well, including Patrick Knapp taking 4th in the Novice Men's Lightweight event, Jeff Kopaniacz placing 5th for the Novice Men Open, and a 6th place finish for Ricky Kauffmann in the Men's Open event. Alumni Mike Thometz and Coaches Taylor Valentine and Kyle Stanley also dusted off their unis and competed in the Men's Open event.

The Frenzy was an excellent start to our winter erg season and we look forward to making it happen again next year. All squads are motivated and hungry for more victory on the water come springtime.

Head of the Eagle 2014

Marquette Crew attended the final regatta of the year, the Head of the Eagle, in Indianapolis, IN, this last Saturday. Racing alongside teams like Purdue, University of Dayton, and Grand Valley, the 72⁰ day was a perfect way to finish the season. The course consisted of two 90⁰ turns within meters of each other, effectively making the crews race up the river and then turn completely around to race back down.

The regatta divided the A boats and the B boats into separate races, so no Marquette boat raced against each other. The Novice Women took home 3 boats of medals, with both the 8+ B (23:20.53), and the 4+ A (24:27.93) claiming 2nd place, and the 4+ B snagging 3rd (27:00.79). The NW 8+ A boat also had a great race, finishing 4th at 21:47.23. For the Novice Men, they raced both an 8+ A and a 4+ A. In the 8+, the crew finished the course in 20:32.41, grabbing 6th place, and for the 4+, with a time of 24:02.35, obtained 7th place. On the varsity side, the Men competed in the 8+ 1V race, ultimately placing 4th (20:41.61), and the 4+ 1V race, for a time of 20:11.20 (5th). Finally, the Varsity Women competed in both the 4+ 1V (22:14.45) and the 4+ 2V (24:12.61). Both boats claimed 4th place, with the 1V only .35 seconds off of 3rd place. To end the day, the VW also raced in the 8+ 1V and the 8+ 2V and both boats placed 3rd in their races, with times of 21:56.95 and 23:34.35 respectively.

The team had numerous boats go home with medals, a tangible representation of all the hard work the rowers have put into the season. The docks are coming out on November 8th, and then the team hits the erg room for winter training, working to drop those seconds. A huge thanks to everyone who made this season possible, the generosity and support we received from alumni, parents, coaches and other teams allowed us to fully dedicate ourselves to each row. We look forward to seeing everyone in the spring!

Head of the Charles 2014

This year, Marquette Crew received a bid for both their Varsity Men’s and Alumni Men’s 8+ to race at the Head of the Charles, in Boston from October 18th-19th. The Varsity Men’s team was coxed by Alli King, and from stern to bow, was rowed by Adam Kobiela, Cristian Kuang, Ryan Nelsen-Freund, James Schiraj, Elliott Sarich, Ricky Kaufmann, Yousif Maizy, and Lucas Henk. These eigth men (and one woman) trained extensively in preparation for one of the biggest regattas in the world, and were helped by their coach, Megan McCulloch. The Varsity Men raced on Sunday, the second day of races. The men finished with a time of 18:19.06 (43rd place).

The Alumni Men raced on the first day of the regatta, Saturday the 18th. Coxed by Alec Hurley, the boat consisted of Zach Savage, Rick Mehl, Dan Otterson, Adam Sullivan, Roberto Gonzalez Haddock, Mike Thometz, Jake Dahleen and John Albrecht. These men finished the course in 35th place, at a time of 16:45.49, only 1:52.15 from the first place boat.

This was a great showing for both of the Marquette Men’s crews, and definitely an experience to remember for them all. However, there is no time to rest, as the Varsity Men continue on with the rest of Marquette Crew to race at the Head of the Eagle in Indianapolis, IN on this coming Saturday (10/25/14). We hope to see some familiar faces there as we battle it out at our last regatta of the season!

Head of the Rock 2014

On Sunday, October 12th, Marquette Crew raced at the Head of the Rock Regatta in Rockford, IL. The regatta had 577 entries from 48 different clubs, allowing our team to face some great competition. Armed with a buffet of food, graciously provided by the parents of the team, the crews were ready to race well.

The day started off with the Novice Women’s 4+, in which the team had two boats entered. The A boat finished in 8th place, with a time of 21:21.14, followed closely by the B boat at 23:13.16, which landed them in 10th place. The NW also raced two 8+ boats, echoing the results of the 4+s, with the A boat claiming 8th place again (19:53.63), and the B boat in 10th (20:37.15). The Novice Men had a great showing at the race, in both their 8+ and 4+. They placed 4th in their 8+ boat (17:44.63) and 8th in their 4+ (20:40.56).

The Varsity crews also had a good showing. The Varsity Men had two 4+s entered, an openweight and a lightweight boat. The openweight 4+ finished the course in 17:30.95, ultimately landing an 8th place finish. The lightweight boat, after shedding some extra pounds, placed in 5th (19:48.48). For the Varsity Women, there were two 8+s and three 4+s entered, with almost every woman on the team double rowing. The 4+s, against some steep competition, finished well, with the A boat grabbing a 12th place finish (20:03.83), only one club team completing the course in front of them. The B and C boats followed, in 15th place (21:00.59) and 19th place (22:02.42), respectively. The VW 8+s were the last race of the day, finishing the 5K in 18:36.50(11th place) and 19:28.41 (16th place).

A huge thanks to all the parents who came together to provide so much food for the team. The countdown now begins for next weekend, as the Varsity Men gear up for the Head of the Charles in Boston.